The don now undone

Reviewed by Rajbir Deswal

My Name Is Abu Salem
by S. Hussain Zaidi. Penguin.
Pages 243. Rs 299

Abu Salem’s life is a study in paradox. He was unique among the Mumbai mafiosi in many ways. The suave don of Mumbai was ‘a middle-school dropout’, who managed his smuggling business with remarkable acumen and made millions. ‘The man who used to ogle at photographs of film heroines in his village had been able to sleep with some of the loveliest ladies in the industry.’

A self-conceited and near-megalomaniac Abu Salem is described by S. Hussain Zaidi as a don who admired himself in the mirror even while making extortion calls. He was fond of Monica Bedi, who was ‘different’ from the rest of ‘them’. However, his wife Sameera, labelled the most dreaded gangster-husband, as meek and coward.

My Name is Abu Salem, though is not a biography in strict terms, it captures in detail all aspects of the rags-to-riches gangster’s journey — from Azamgarh to Mumbai to Dubai to the US and to Portugal, where he finally met his nemesis, and was netted and cornered. But picture abhi baki hai mere dost seems to be the refrain that Zaidi suggests with this story of a onetime crony, protégé and right-hand man of the likes of Dawood Ibrahim and Anis Ibrahim.

The amount of authenticity that the writer has brought in adds to his credentials. He has effectively shared with readers the murky details of transactions, conspiracies, gang-war, extortions, protection money, terrorism, communal violence, Bollywood, and above all, misguided youth taking to crime and how the term bhaigiri got popular.

There are a number of sub-plots, which develop the readers’ interest in the unputdownable book. These include accounts of the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, and ruthless, cold-blooded murders of Gulshan Kumar and Pradip Jain. Financial constraints coupled with Anis Ibrahim asking Salem to send Monica Bedi to him to warm his bed led to bitterness between the bigger don Anis and his underling Salem. He fled to South Africa with Monica, but made his wife Sameera reach the US, where she bore him a son, who was named Amir.

After holidaying in Africa and Europe, and staying with Monica Bedi’s parents in Norway, the couple landed in the US, where they nearly settled. They even transferred accounts from other banks to Salem’s newly acquired base in Chicago.

After 9/11, Salem was in a hurry to pack off from the US. Both moved to Portugal and stayed in Lisbon, where they were finally arrested. They spent three years in Portuguese jails, before being extradited to India. Indian government filed 72 cases against Salem, but the Portuguese Government agreed only on nine to be followed for trial in India, since these related to terrorism.

The plea Salem made in Portuguese courts was that capital punishment was still awarded in India. The Court agreed on extradition on this condition. In India, Abu Salem survived two attacks in Jails which was taken note of by the European Human Rights Commission. Salem’s new-found lawyer friend, Saba Quarishi is trying hard to send him back. Even the author concludes the book by saying, ‘Will the don win this round? Only time will tell.’